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Hypertension or high blood pressure is a precursor to heart disease. High blood pressure that goes
undetected or isn’t properly controlled can lead to
heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, stroke or
premature death. According to the American Heart Association
one in three U.S. adults suffers from hypertension, which
if gone untreated leads to one in six deaths a year. Though
the exact causes of rising blood pressure are not clear, studies
show there is a strong association with age, family history, being
overweight, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, stress, and lack
of sleep, to name a few of the findings. High salt intake, caffeine
and alcohol have been shown to exacerbate the situation,
leading to an increase in blood pressure.

Because hypertension has few early symptoms, many people
aren’t aware of their condition.

One cannot feel the increase in blood pressure in the way
one feels a headache coming on or a sore tooth. Therefore,
lifestyle preventive measures should be taken consistently to
avoid the hidden signs of hypertension and once hypertension
hits, treatment should be sought.

Garlic and Blood Pressure
People seeking to control hypertension are offered a wide
range of anti-hypertensive medications. But for those who prefer
to explore complementary therapy, the choice of garlic as a
treatment is a safe and effective avenue.

Garlic has been associated with a lowering of blood pressure
in patients with untreated hypertension; in some reports
the anti-hypertensive effect of garlic was similar to that seen
with anti-hypertensive drugs. Current evidence indicates that
of the various available garlic preparations, Kyolic aged garlic
extract (AGE), manufactured by Wakunaga, is the most reliable
and consistent in its efficacy. Aged garlic extract is safe
and odorless; it is produced from fresh organic garlic cloves,
by a process of natural extraction and aging that lasts up to 20
months, at room temperature. AGE is standardized by S-allyl
cysteine, its most prevalent component, a stable water-soluble
organosulfur compound, with antioxidant activity. The fact that
the standardizing compound is stable, in contrast to volatile
allicin, which is used in standardizing garlic powder, assures
the high quality control and reliability of AGE. This has resulted
in AGE being the preferred form of garlic used in medical studies
on the health effects of garlic, with over 600 scientific and
medical publications.

Recent studies of AGE have shown it to be a modulator
of multiple cardiovascular risk factors, such as lowering
blood pressure, increasing blood flow, preventing platelet aggregation
and adhesion, lowering total cholesterol and LDL,
elevating the good cholesterol (HDL) and directly suppressing
atherosclerosis. In addition, AGE was shown to protect
the function of endothelial cells that line blood vessels and,
by its powerful antioxidant action inhibit oxidative damage of
the endothelium that can be caused by many stress factors,
including smoking.

In a study at Brown University School of Medicine supplementation
with aged garlic extract was found to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure in men with high cholesterol
levels. Men were given Kyolic AGE at a dose of 800 mg/day,
for six months, followed by placebo for four months. Cholesterol
levels and blood pressure were measured monthly. The
researchers found that total cholesterol levels were lowered by
an average of six to seven percent. AGE treatment resulted in
a 5.5 percent decrease in systolic blood pressure and a smaller
decrease in diastolic pressure.

A breakthrough clinical trial from the University of California
in Los Angeles, by Dr. M. Budoff and colleagues, found a
dramatic reduction in coronary artery plaque formation in AGE
treated patients compared to placebo and, among the other
multiple cardioprotective effects a reduction in blood pressure.

A New Randomized Clinical Trial
Various published studies on the ability of garlic and garlic
supplements to lower blood pressure in patients with untreated
hypertension, show that AGE is better tolerated than garlic
powder and that its efficacy in reducing blood pressure is superior
to that of raw or cooked garlic.

A new clinical trial from the University of Adelaide in Australia
is the first to address the question whether AGE would be
effective in lowering blood pressure in hypertensive patients
whose treatment with ant-hypertensive drugs did not control
their high blood pressure. In other words, would AGE act as an
adjunct treatment and effectively produce a favorable response
in the medically uncontrolled hypertensive patients.
The clinical study published in the journal Maturitas, with
K. Reid as lead author, in October 2010 (online in July 2010),
was a randomized, double-blinded placebo controlled trial of
50 patients with hypertension, who’s high blood pressure remained
uncontrolled, despite having been treated with antihypertensive
medications.

The patients were adults with systolic blood pressure of
140 mm Hg or higher and diastolic pressure of 90 mm Hg or
above. They were all on conventional antihypertensive medications,
such as beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin
converting enzyme inhibitors, or diuretics. The patients
were instructed not to change the prescribed medications during
the trial. Twenty five patients in the garlic group received
four capsules a day that contained a total of 960 mg of aged
garlic extract and 2.4 mg S-allyl cysteine, for 12 weeks. The
daily dose was equivalent to an intake of 2.5 mg of fresh garlic.
Twenty five patients on placebo received similar capsules, devoid
of Kyolic, packaged in identical containers as the AGE. In
order to be sure that patients were unaware whether they were
on the garlic regimen or on placebo, sachets with a drop of
AGE were added to give a garlic odor to all containers. Blood
pressures were monitored at baseline and at 4.8 and 12 weeks,
and at all times patients were reminded to keep taking their
usual prescribed antihypertensive medications.

AGE as an Adjunct Treatment
The trial results showed a statistically significant difference
between the blood pressure of patients on AGE and those on
placebo. In patients with uncontrolled hypertension (systolic
blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher), AGE lowered their
systolic pressure by an average of 10.2 mm Hg, compared with
placebo controls; an effect comparable to the reduction produced
by common antihypertensive medications. Changes in
blood pressure between the groups in patients with a systolic
blood pressure lower than 140 mm Hg were not significant.

This new clinical trial shows Kyolic AGE is superior to placebo
in lowering blood pressure, in patients who could not
control hypertension by medications and that AGE can serve
as an adjunct anti-hypertensive therapy. Previous studies have
shown the lowering of blood pressure is a cornerstone in protecting
against heart disease and that a drop in systolic blood
pressure by five mm Hg lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease
by 8–20 percent. Thus, the observed reduction in blood
pressure of 10.2 mm Hg, by AGE, offers striking and highly
desirable protective measures against cardiovascular disease.

Mechanisms of Action
The anti-hypertensive effects of garlic have been linked to stimulation
of intracellular nitric oxide (NO), a compound that is
produced in the endothelial cells and is responsible for controlling
vascular tone and regulating blood pressure.
Aged garlic extract enhances the production of NO and
improves blood flow in humans. Both AGE and S-allyl cysteine,
its most prevalent compound, significantly increased the production
of cyclic guanosine monophosphate, a substance that
among it many functions acts in blood vessels to relax vascular
smooth muscles, leading to vasodilation and increased blood
flow.
In Conclusion
Hypertension, defined as systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg or
above, and diastolic pressure of 90 mm Hg or above should
be treated as soon as diagnosed. Garlic has antihypertensive
effects in humans and of the various available preparations,
including the fresh bulb Kyolic aged garlic extract (AGE) stands
out as the most reliable preventive measure and, as shown in
the new clinical trial by K. Ried, highly effective as an adjunct
treatment to medications in patients who could not control hypertension
by medication alone. The antihypertensive effects
of AGE are due to its ability to stimulate the blood vessel relaxing
factor NO, improve the elasticity of arteries and increase
blood flow. The study and its results add to the many other
cardioprotective effects of AGE, including reducing blood clotting,
preventing coronary plaque formation, as shown by Dr.
M. Budoff, lowering oxidized LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
(fats that increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke) and
reducing homocysteine, another high risk factor, as shown in
earlier studies by Dr. N. Ide and colleagues.
Millions of Americans prefer to get their daily dose of garlic
in supplement form; of the many products on the market
AGE has proved the most popular and as shown in the new
clinical trial and in earlier studies, highly effective in protecting
health by its preventive and therapeutic effects.

Carmia Borek, PhD

Carmia Borek has a PhD in genetics and molecular biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and an MS degree in the fields of physiology, pharmacology and biochemistry, from George Washington University. As an expert in the fields of cancer and in the role of nutrition and antioxidants in disease prevention, Dr. Borek has published in over 300 scientific publications and has been
the editor of several books in medicine and biology. Additionally, Dr. Borek is the author of over 100 educational and popular articles in the fields of diet and health, including the book Maximize Your Health-Span with Antioxidants, The Baby Boomer’s Guide a science-based book for the non-scientist.

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